School team players I suppose. After my session, I sat outside to chill and see if I could learn a thing or two from them.
Between sips, I observed their footwork, movement, anticipation, strategy, serves, strokes, style of play, etc.
As the coach barked instructions, it appeared clear to me that all four players were struggling not because of technique, but due to "inferior" equipment.
Among them were two Babolats, one Wilson and one Head racket. From the impact sound, all were strung with poly strings. New tournament balls were used.
Those are all good rackets. By "inferior", I meant ill-fitting. It seemed like they were selecting based on marketing hype rather than proper fit. (link1)(link2)
Physically, all four of them were about 1.6+ metres tall, and probably only low-60s kg. All were tanned and skinny.
The table below summed up my observations, assuming their rackets were unmodified:
Other than Player "C", the rest were all late on contact for serves and return of serves. It was evident the swingweights of 335, 327 and 332 were too much for Players "A", "B" and "D" respectively. Second serves were all suicide serves.
Neither could they control their serve returns accurately. Other than "C", most of their serve returns were either mere blocks or mis-hits. "C" hit some beautiful down-the-lines and passed the net guy, and some lob returns as well.
Groundstrokes were the only part of the game they did well in. But ironically, players "B" and "C" who were using the spinnest rackets were hitting the flattest groundstrokes!
From my estimate, about two-thirds to three-quarters of "B" and "C" topspin shots were sitters which their opponents slammed down on. That could be why they hit flat to keep the bounce low.
For volleys, only "A" managed some consistency in imparting backspin and placing the shots into blank spaces. Even "C", who used the lowest swingweight, struggled. Could be pain in his elbow.
A soft spoken lady, I presume to be the mother of one of the boys, saw me shaking my head incessantly, and came over to ask why.
I asked which kid was hers and shared the same information I posted above. Being a long-time tennis player herself, she agreed. However, the kid was insistent not to lose his strongest part of the game - groundstrokes.
From the impact sounds, the bite, dwell time and the way the ball comes off the strings, I felt the poly strings were all past their prime or tensioned way too high. In my opinion, none needed poly strings.
If they would heed advice, this would be one group where a racket and string change would yield almost immediate improvements to their game. I have made it happen many times.
But well..... like the mother said, they are entitled to their own choices.
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